English Recordings

He was found guilty of reckless driving.
There was no soap, so I just rinsed my hands with
The employees had been forewarned (that) the end-of-year financial results would be poor.
Mix the powder and water into a stiff paste.
Student grants these days are paltry.
She made some paltry excuse and left.
The beaver lives near wooded streams. Beavers are found in most parts of Canada ( the north, the west and on the prairies).
Barna large building on a farm in which hay (= dried grass)and grain are kept.
Evidence suggests that errors may indeed be occurring.
She spent the evening grumbling to me about her job.
a person who pays rent for the use of land or a building
So much blood has been shed (= So many people have been badly hurt or killed) in this war.
earl--(the title of) a British man of high social rank, between a marquis and a viscount
He's believed to have masterminded the attacks.
The meeting was a complete and utter waste of time.
What an utterly stupid thing to do!
High winds have hindered firefighters in their efforts to put out the blaze.
He's a sly old devil - I wouldn't trust him with my money.
sulking-He's sulking in a corner somewhere because I wouldn't let him have a second bar of chocolate.

Rocky III is a 1982 American film that is the third installment in the Rocky film series. It is written and directed by and stars Sylvester Stallone as the title character
Rocky III begins with the ending of the 15th round of the rematch between Rocky and Apollo Creed, with Rocky Balboa becoming the new heavyweight champion of the world. This is followed by an opening montage of scenes that explain what happened in the time between Rocky II and Rocky III. In the five years since winning the heavyweight title from Apollo 4, Rocky has a string of 10 successful title defenses. As his winning streak grows, so does his fame, wealth and celebrity, and soon Rocky is seen everywhere, from magazine covers to TV show guest star appearances. Rocky is also heavily merchandised, sponsoring varied products and services. At the same time, a ferocious new boxer named James "Clubber" Lang 4 is climbing the ranks, rapidly becoming the number one contender for Rocky's title.
Rocky's brother-in-law Paulie 4 has grown jealous of Rocky's accomplishments. After a night of heavy drinking, Paulie stumbles into a video arcade, hurls an empty whiskey bottle through a ROCKY pinball machine in a rage and is arrested. Rocky bails him out of jail and, on the way to Rocky's car to ride home, Paulie begins berating Rocky for forgetting him on his climb to the top. Paulie swallows his pride and asks Rocky for a job, which Rocky grants him.
Rocky agrees to a charity match with wrestling champion Thunderlips. While Rocky treats the match as a light-hearted exhibition, Thunderlips seems to be taking it seriously, body-slamming Rocky and throwing him out of the ring. Rocky shouts to Paulie "Cut my gloves off!" The gloves come off and Rocky fights back, even managing to throw Thunderlips out of the ring himself. Just as the match is about to degenerate into a type of shoot fight, the bell rings and the match is declared a draw. Thunderlips calms down, and it's clear that his aggression earlier was just for show. A now smiling Thunderlips has his picture taken with Rocky's wife and kid.
Rocky has a statue of himself unveiled at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and reveals his plans to retire from boxing. The crowd of Rocky fans disapprove of his decision. Clubber Lang, who is in attendance at the ceremony, publicly challenges Rocky, this time criticizing Rocky’s title defenses as being intentional set-ups against weak, over-matched "bums." Lang also berates the politics of boxing, the reason Lang feels he hasn't been awarded a title shot. Furthermore, he harasses Adrian. Angered by a sexually suggestive remark Lang makes towards Adrian, Rocky agrees to the fight, but Mickey, his trainer, wants no part of it. Returning home, Rocky argues with Mickey; Mickey admits to Rocky that the fighters he defended his title against were good fighters but "hand-picked", only because Rocky received such a bad beating in his win over Creed that Mickey took it upon himself to make sure Rocky remained successful and healthy. He also tells Rocky that Lang is a young, hungry "wrecking machine" and that Rocky has no chance of beating him, as he hasn't retained his edge as a fighter. Rocky manages to convince Mickey to train him regardless, but his Las Vegas-style training camp is filled with distractions and Rocky clearly does not take the challenge seriously. Clubber's relentless training regimen of working out by himself in a derelict building with whatever objects he has and running through city alleys clearly shows that he is taking his preparation for the bout far more seriously.
Lang and Rocky meet at Philadelphia's Spectrum. During a melee before the fight, Mickey is shoved out of the way by Lang and suffers a heart attack. A now distraught Rocky wants to call the fight off, but Mickey angrily urges him on while he stays in the dressing room. By the time of the fight, Rocky is both enraged and severely distracted by his mentor's condition. At ringside, Rocky's old nemesis Apollo Creed is on hand to do commentary. While shaking hands with both fighters, Creed is insulted and rebuffed by Lang and encourages Rocky to win. The fight begins: Rocky starts by pounding Lang with several huge blows, going for an early knockout, but the stronger and better-prepared Lang is unfazed and quickly takes charge, dominating Rocky and knocking him out in the second round. Beaten, Rocky makes his way back to the dressing room and to the dying Mickey. Kneeling at his side, Rocky speaks to his friend, telling him that the fight ended in the second by a knockout, which Mickey misinterprets as a win for Rocky, as he passes away. Following the funeral, Rocky faces a depression mixed with anger and hopelessness.
Stopping by Mickey's closed gym, Rocky is confronted by Apollo Creed, who offers to help train him. Previously, Creed had been insulted to his face by Lang, who mocked Creed as a "has-been" and refused to shake his hand. Apollo makes a pitch to snap Rocky out of his funk and get him back on the winning track. He vows to train Rocky to fight Lang again, the way Apollo thinks he should be fought. He slowly convinces him that he can regain the fire Rocky thrived on in his earlier days, and tells him he must again have the "eye of the tiger", his fighting spirit, mainly by starting from scratch. Apollo takes Rocky to the slums of Los Angeles so that Rocky can get back to basics. The duo also meet up with Creed's old manager, Tony "Duke" Evers, who has enthusiastically agreed to assist Creed in training Rocky. At first, Rocky is too demoralized to put forth his best efforts, which repeatedly frustrates Apollo. However, after admitting to Adrian that he's afraid, that his previous post-Apollo fights were set-ups and that he feels responsible for Mickey's death, she tells Rocky he has no right to feel guilty over Mickey, who was a grown man and made his own choices. She also tells him to fight for himself and no one else. Rocky is then able to pull himself together to train as hard as he can, adding some of Apollo's speed and skill to his own style of fighting. During his training, Rocky forges a deep bond with both Duke and Apollo, their relationship evolving from former adversaries to close friends.
The rematch is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. At the start of the fight, Rocky sprints from his corner, fighting with a level of skill and spirit that no one, including Lang, expected. As a result Rocky completely dominates the first round, demonstrating his new-found speed. After the bell, Clubber, who is in a fit of rage over what has just happened, has to be restrained by his trainers. In the second round, Lang gains the upper hand, and Rocky adopts an entirely different strategy that bewilders Apollo; he intentionally takes a beating from Lang, whilst taunting him for being unable to knock him out.
In Round 3, Lang, who is used to winning fights swiftly with knockouts in the early rounds, becomes increasingly angry and quickly exhausts his energy trying to finish Rocky off with repeated knockout blows, most of which miss the newly-agile Rocky entirely. Rocky taunts Lang in order to psyche him out, with taunts such as, "My mother can hit harder than that'", and, "You ain't so bad, you ain't so bad, you ain't nothing". The quick-tempered Clubber is infuriated. He attacks even harder, walking right into Balboa's trap. The tide turns, and Rocky is able to overpower the winded and outfoxed Lang, landing blow after blow and dodging Lang's attempted punches before knocking him out.
Soon afterwards, Rocky and Apollo return to Mickey's gym, with Apollo revealing the price of his training: a third fight with Rocky. However, this time it would only be a sparring match between two new friends, which Rocky accepts. The film ends with Rocky and Apollo in the ring both throwing punches at each other as the screen freezes and music plays. This ending has become classic.

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Rocky II begins with the 14th round of the Bicentennial fight from the first movie. The fight lasts the entire 15 rounds with each fighter suffering many devastating injuries. After the fight, Rocky calls out for Adrian, who runs down to the ring. As Creed is announced the winner by split decision, Adrian and Rocky embrace, and Rocky tells her that he loves her.
After their championship bout, Rocky and Apollo are taken by ambulance to Pennsylvania Hospital in Center City, where they meet once again in the hospital lobby with a mob of reporters. Apollo Creed, who retained the championship on points, is furious at Rocky, the first man to go the distance with him, and starts clamoring for another chance to knock Rocky out. Rocky goes to Apollo's room that night and asks "Did you give me your best?" to which Apollo answers "Yeah." Rocky declines talk of a rematch and tells Apollo that he is quitting boxing. Rocky's decision to retire is strengthened when doctors tell him he needs surgery for a detached retina.
Following his hospital stay, Rocky proposes to Adrian in front of the tiger exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo, and they later get married in a private church ceremony. Rocky begins to enjoy the profits from his fight with Apollo. He buys his first brand new car which is a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am, goes on a shopping spree, and buys a two-story house. He also convinces his previous employer, Gazzo, to give Paulie his old collecting job. Rocky then opts to earn money by appearing in television commercials. His new career, however, is quickly derailed by his sub-par reading skills, which leads to a clash with the director of his first commercial.
Unable to find white-collar work due to his lack of education beyond the 8th grade, and after being laid off from the meat packing plant where Paulie previously worked, he gets a job "helping out" as an assistant trainer at Mickey's gym. Adrian, now pregnant, returns to her old job at the pet store. Running short on money from his unwise spending spree, Rocky also hands over his new Trans Am to Paulie, who agrees to take over the payments.
Meanwhile, Apollo Creed has been receiving hate mail about his split-decision win over Rocky and is filled with anger and frustration: the letters alternately accuse him of deliberately carrying "that chump" the distance or state outright that he should have lost and has no business calling himself the champ. Determined to prove himself and win back the respect of his fans, Apollo elects to try and pressure Rocky into another fight, despite protests from his trainer, Tony "Duke" Evers, to find a new contender to fight against. Rocky himself begins to have second thoughts about the fight, but because of the pressure applied by Apollo, Rocky decides to accept the challenge for a rematch against Apollo on Thanksgiving 1976 and begins training once again.
Mickey is unwilling to train Rocky at first, due to his bad eye. However, after seeing Apollo making fun of Rocky on public television, he becomes furious with Apollo and agrees to train Rocky. Mickey decides he wants Rocky to learn to fight right-handed in order to better protect the eye, and to give him a surprise advantage by switching back to left-handed with the intention of throwing off Apollo's timing and confusing him. He also focuses on improving Rocky's speed by using an old training method from his own boxing days: he forces Rocky to chase a chicken around a vacant lot, stating, "If you can catch this thing you can catch greased lightning."
However, Adrian's opposition saps Rocky's resolve and his training suffers. When Paulie confronts Adrian about her opinion, her angry reaction creates a serious medical condition that breaks her water prematurely. During the birth of their son, Adrian falls into a coma, and as a result of the premature birth, their son is placed into an incubator. Rocky breaks away from training to spend every waking moment either at her side or in the hospital chapel with Mickey, not even seeing his newborn son until several days later when she recovers. When Adrian emerges from the coma, she tells Rocky to "win" and he restarts training in earnest with Mickey for the rematch with Apollo. His condition improves dramatically with increased strength and speed.
As with the first fight, Rocky's training includes his famous brisk run throughout the city of Philadelphia. This time, however, he is greeted with the cheers and encouragement of onlookers as he runs through the streets of South Philadelphia, having become a local celebrity following his narrow loss to Apollo. Along the way, children and pre-teens begin to follow him, their numbers increasing dramatically block by block. By the time he reaches the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City, hundreds of young people have joined in. Ultimately, they follow Rocky to the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, enthusiastically chanting his name as he lifts his arms in a victory pose.
Rocky and Apollo once again fight an intense battle in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Paulie and a still-recovering Adrian stay home to watch the match on their TV set. Gazzo personally attends the match with a front-row seat as in the first film. Unlike the first match, Apollo gets off to a fast start, flooring Rocky twice in the first two rounds and building a huge lead on the scorecards as the fight goes on. But throughout the fight, Rocky pounds away at Apollo on and off, turning the fight into a brutal battle. At the start of the 15th and final round, Apollo's trainer begs him not to try to go for a knockout, as he can win simply by avoiding Rocky. Apollo, desperately wanting to prove he can knock out Rocky and very frustrated that he keeps coming back, disregards the advice. Mickey tells Rocky to switch back to boxing left-handed now, and although Rocky initially refuses, he switches back, landing several crashing lefts. Rocky hits Apollo with a final punch that knocks him down, but from sheer exhaustion, Rocky also goes down to the canvas. The referee starts the final ten-count as the fighters struggle to their feet.
At the count of 9, Apollo, finally realizing all but too late that the last fight was not fixed, collapses while reaching for the top rope, while Rocky picks himself up and is declared the WBA's new Heavyweight Champion of the World. In his post-match speech, he thanks Apollo for another hard-fought battle, Mickey for training him, and God. Rocky states "Except for my kid being born, this is the greatest night in the history of my life, and I just want to say one thing to my wife who's home: Yo, Adrian! I did it!"

Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen, and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone.
In November 1975, Rocky Balboa is introduced as a small-time boxer and collector for Anthony Gazzo, a loan shark, living in Philadelphia. The World Heavyweight Championship bout is scheduled for New Year's Day 1976, the year of the United States Bicentennial. When the opponent of undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed is injured, Creed comes up with the idea of fighting a local underdog and, because he likes Rocky's nickname, "The Italian Stallion", he selects the relatively unknown fighter. He puts it in light by proclaiming "Apollo Creed meets 'The Italian Stallion'".
To prepare for the fight, Rocky trains with a 1920s-era ex-bantamweight fighter and gym owner, Mickey Goldmill, while Rocky's good friend, Paulie, a meat-packing plant worker, lets him practice his punches on the carcasses hanging in the freezers. During training, Rocky dates Paulie's shy, quiet sister, Adrian who works as a clerk in a local pet store. The night before the fight, Rocky confides in Adrian that he does not expect to beat Creed, and that all he wants is to go the distance with Creed, meaning that lasting 15 rounds against him would mean he "... wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood".
On New Years Day, the climactic boxing match begins. Creed does not initially take the fight seriously, but Rocky unexpectedly knocks him down in the first round and the match turns intense. The fight indeed lasts 15 rounds with each fighter suffering many injuries; as the final round bell sounds with both fighters locked in each other's arms, an exhausted Creed vows "Ain't gonna be no re-match", to which an equally spent Rocky replies "Don't want one". After the fight, Rocky calls out for Adrian, who runs down to the ring. As the ring announcer declares the fight for Apollo Creed by virtue of a split decision, Adrian and Rocky embrace while they profess their love to one another, not caring about the results of the fight.

Meet Joe Black is a 1998 romantic drama produced by Universal Studios and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday.
The movie opens with an introduction to the guide, Bill Parrish, who doubts that he will live for many more years. Indeed, he is approached in his home and work by what he thinks are hallucinations, wherein Death himself has come with the intention of escorting him to the afterlife. Bill, touched by his dream-like brush with mortality, expresses his desire for his daughter, Susan, to live a life with passion. She is considering marriage, but her father is not favorably impressed by her relationship. When she asks for the short version of his impassioned speech, he simply says, "Stay open. Who knows? Lightning could strike!"
Shortly after hearing this advice, Susan meets a vibrant young man of whom she is instantly enamored. Immediately after this encounter (and unbeknownst to her), the man dies in a collision with two cars. Death returns to Bill's home in the form of the young man, explaining that Bill's impassioned speech has piqued his interest after an eternity of boredom. Given Bill's "competence, experience, and wisdom", Death has chosen him and tells Bill that in return for a delay, Bill shall be his guide on Earth. Notably, during his time on Earth, Death's personality alters to become mildly curious, ruminative, and gentle, having been worldly, sardonic, and arrogant until he revealed his appearance.
Death then places himself at Bill's right hand under the name 'Joe Black' and establishes his place in Bill's home and work, instructing Bill to reveal his identity to nobody. This last task is complicated when the Board of Directors of Bill's corporation are urging a union with a larger company at the instigation of Susan's fiancé (and Parrish board member), Drew. After a tense board meeting wherein Bill advises the board against the merger, Joe ventures into the city to explore it. He visits Susan at the hospital where she works as a doctor and in doing so, observes the human aspect of mortality, which was apparently unknown to him. A dying Jamaican patient recognizes him as a spirit; upon learning that he is Death, she asks to be taken to the afterlife. Joe instead soothes her pain and promises to take her later.
He returns to visit Bill, who describes his late wife, to whom he was strongly attached. Their conversation is interrupted by Drew, who is bothered by the reversal of Bill's decision regarding the merger. Bill becomes angry at the prospect of the company that he built becoming compromised, believing that a man should leave something of integrity in his passing, whereupon Joe cautions "Easy, Bill; you'll give yourself a heart attack and ruin my vacation." Realizing that Joe could end his delay at any time, Bill unprecedentedly arranges for dinner with his family two nights in a row, prompting their anxiety. Bill attempts a broken and awkward speech focusing on the idea of family, after which he invites them all back for dinner again the next night. Touched by his feelings, they all agree, with one exception: Drew, who is angered by the presence of Joe Black (who appears to have taken the ear of Bill Parrish and disrupted Drew's plans). He is even more rankled by the increasing closeness between Susan and Joe. After a number of snide comments aimed at Joe during dinner, Drew confronts Susan about her feelings for Joe, which ends in Drew's uncertainty. After a flirtatious conversation with Joe, who has overheard the argument with Drew, Susan is warned by Bill not to become attached to this mysterious stranger.
The next day, Drew secretly gathers the board of the company to advise them that Bill Parrish has been unconditionally influenced by "Mr. Joe Black" and inform them that the rival company has clarified its offer: it will accept Parrish Communications with or without its chairman. Bill, meanwhile, is reminded of his family's importance to him by the distress of his other daughter, Allison, who is trying to organize his sixty-fifth birthday party.
Upon delivering the stark threat that the board will see Bill removed from the chair, Drew departs, angrily announcing to Susan that this is "the end of my chapter with the Parrishes. And the end began with this guy," indicating Joe, who has also followed. After a tense and crude standoff, Drew leaves Susan and Joe alone. They are interrupted by Bill, who shows concern for his daughter.
The following morning, Parrish is confronted by Drew and the board of directors, who reiterate their intentions regarding the merger. After Bill's emphatic refusal to accept the merger or oblige the board's request for Joe's identity, they vote to make Bill "Chairman Emeritus", thus depriving him of power. After the meeting, Drew reveals to Bill's son-in-law that he was in collusion with the rival company, with the intention of seizing power and then selling off Parrish Communications for a huge profit. Bill and Joe return home, where Bill, disheartened, goes for a nap. Joe comes across Susan and after an awkward moment they make love.
Bill consequently defies this union and reminds Joe of his purpose in the universe but Joe disregards Bill's words. Shortly after another encounter with Susan, Joe realizes that she is not enamored exactly of him, but rather of the man whose body he has assumed. Joe returns to Bill, who tries to entrap Drew. Joe assists by claiming that he is an IRS agent investigating Drew's dealings (a play on Drew's earlier comment on "death and taxes"). Bill is restored as chairman and the merger is canceled.
In his speech at the lavish gala celebration, Bill Parrish fondly expresses his appreciation to his daughters for their work preparing it as well as his love for both of them. Joe later escorts Bill out of sight over a nearby bridge, presumably to his death. Joe then sends back to life the young man whose body he borrowed, allowing Susan the chance to pursue a relationship with him. Susan tells him she wishes he could have met her father, indicating that she understands (as hinted earlier) that Joe Black was Death, and that her father is dead. The story ends as both of them are watching the fireworks celebrating her father's birthday.

It has been so long since I made a phone call with my friend. I was really glad to listen to my friend's voice again after two years. He said he was on the promotion list this year. However, he was left off the candidate list for the upcoming promotion. He had to get 3 times of the grade 'A.' The number of the employees who are possible to get the grade 'A' in his team is limited to 10% of the entire team members. Therefore, if one get 'A', someone has to get grade 'C.' The grade 'B' is the average grade. Last year, he offered his grade 'A' to the one who was on the promotion list. Unfortunately, nobody gave him grade 'A' to be promoted. The team leader who promised the promotion left to another team. To make things worse, he failed to get TOEIC level of 860 points which can be additional option to be referred by the committee. Finally, he couldn't promote this year to the senior level. He was disappointed with the failure of the promotion because most of his colleagues were promoted

"I should have stay home," Mrs. Jansen said. She was sitting next to Mr. Jansen on the front seat of their car. Their caughter Cam and her friend Eric Shelton were sitting on the back seat. They were all on their way to the airport to pick up Cam's aunt Molly.
Mrs. Jansen was tapping her fingers on the armrest. "We're having a birthday party in two hours. I should be home to get everything ready."
"Everything is ready," Mr. Jansen told her.
"And my parents are there," Eric said. "They know what to do."
Mrs. jansen was still tapping on the armrest. She turned and told Cam and Eric, "Don't let Aunt Molly know about the party. We want her to be surprised."
Mrs. Jansen looked at her watch. "What time is her flight coming in?"
"At 2:00." Mr. Jansen said.
Eric said, "I thought it was due in at 1:54."
Cam closed her eyes and said "click." She always says "click" when she wants to remember something. Cam says it's the sound her "mental camera" makes when it takes a picture.
"I'm looking at the airline schedule," Cam said with her eyes still closed. "Molly's flight is number 54. It's due in at 1:20."
"I'm sorry," her father said, "but this time your memory is wrong. I'm sure the flight is due in at 2:00."
Cam shook her head. "No, 2 is the gate number."
Cam's mental camera is her memory. She can take one look at something and remember it perfectly. "It's easy for me," Cam often explains. "I have a photograph of everything I see stored in my brain. When I want to remember something, I just look at the photograph."
When Cam was younger, her mother read books about how people remember. She learned that scientists call someone like Cam "eidetic." But most people just say that Cam has a photographic memory.
Cam's real name is Jennifer. But when people found out about her photographic memory and heard her say "click," they started calling her "The Camera." Soon "The Camera" was shortened to "Cam."
Mrs. jansen looked at her watch again. "We're late," she said as she tapped her fingers on her handbag. "We'll miss Molly. She'll take a bus to our house and see the cake and the surprise will be ruined."
"Don't worry," Mr. Jansen said as he drove into the airport parking lot. "After Molly gets off the plane, she has to get her luggage. We won't miss her."
Mr. Jansen parked the car. Cam, her parents, and Eric walked into the airport arrivals building. Right inside was a television screen. On it were numbers that kept changing. Cam looked at the screen.
"Flight 54 is already in."
"We missed her," Mrs. Jansen said. "We missed Molly. She's probably on her way to our house right now."

Do not walk among our graves and mourn,
We are not there,
We rose at dawn,

We move amongst each summer breeze,
That brush the tufts of verdant trees,

We are in each poppy red,
Each blooming tree,
Then leaves that shed,

We are in each sunset gold,
That smothers the fields we once marched bold,

We are in each gentle shower,
like tears that tender each poppy flower,

Our pride and strife will echoes be,
Please keep us in your memory,

Do not walk among our graves and mourn,
we are not there,
we are reborn

In the quest for better health, many people turn to doctors, self-help books or herbal supplements. But they overlook a powerful weapon that could help them fight illness and depression, speed recovery, slow aging and prolong life: their friends.

Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age.

“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t terribly well appreciated,” said Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. “There is just scads of stuff on families and marriage, but very little on friendship. It baffles me. Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships.”

In a new book, “The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a 40-Year Friendship” (Gotham), Jeffrey Zaslow tells the story of 11 childhood friends who scattered from Iowa to eight different states. Despite the distance, their friendships endured through college and marriage, divorce and other crises, including the death of one of the women in her 20s.

Using scrapbooks, photo albums and the women’s own memories, Mr. Zaslow chronicles how their close friendships have shaped their lives and continue to sustain them. The role of friendship in their health and well-being is evident in almost every chapter.

Two of the friends have recently learned they have breast cancer. Kelly Zwagerman, now a high school teacher who lives in Northfield, Minn., said that when she got her diagnosis in September 2007, her doctor told her to surround herself with loved ones. Instead, she reached out to her childhood friends, even though they lived far away.

“The first people I told were the women from Ames,” she said in an interview. “I e-mailed them. I immediately had e-mails and phone calls and messages of support. It was instant that the love poured in from all of them.”

When she complained that her treatment led to painful sores in her throat, an Ames girl sent a smoothie maker and recipes. Another, who had lost a daughter to leukemia, sent Ms. Zwagerman a hand-knitted hat, knowing her head would be cold without hair; still another sent pajamas made of special fabric to help cope with night sweats.

Ms. Zwagerman said she was often more comfortable discussing her illness with her girlfriends than with her doctor. “We go so far back that these women will talk about anything,” she said.

Ms. Zwagerman says her friends from Ames have been an essential factor in her treatment and recovery, and research bears her out. In 2006, a study of nearly 3,000 nurses with breast cancer found that women without close friends were four times as likely to die from the disease as women with 10 or more friends. And notably, proximity and the amount of contact with a friend wasn’t associated with survival. Just having friends was protective.

Bella DePaulo, a visiting psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose work focuses on single people and friendships, notes that in many studies, friendship has an even greater effect on health than a spouse or family member. In the study of nurses with breast cancer, having a spouse wasn’t associated with survival.

While many friendship studies focus on the intense relationships of women, some research shows that men can benefit, too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-age Swedish men, attachment to a single person didn’t appear to affect the risk of heart attack and fatal coronary heart disease, but having friendships did. Only smoking was as important a risk factor as lack of social support.

Exactly why friendship has such a big effect isn’t entirely clear. While friends can run errands and pick up medicine for a sick person, the benefits go well beyond physical assistance; indeed, proximity does not seem to be a factor.

It may be that people with strong social ties also have better access to health services and care. Beyond that, however, friendship clearly has a profound psychological effect. People with strong friendships are less likely than others to get colds, perhaps because they have lower stress levels.

Last year, researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone.

The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.

“People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”